Smeriran  BoarU  of  Commissioners  for 
.foreign  Missions. 


r*M.  

«JAPAN 

V f-l'V  / . 

THE  JAPAN  MISSION 

1869-139(5.  , 

u 1 A I,  ) 

A CONDENSED  SKETCH. 

rOL\  ' < V 

By  Rev.  JAMES  H.  PETTEE. 


New  and  Revised  Edition. 


BOSTON : 

IPrintcti  for  tfjc  American  33oart. 


CONDENSED  SKETCH  OF  THE 
JAPAN  MISSION. 


This  island  empire  with  its  extensive  coast- 
line of  17,575  miles  is  about  the  size  of  Califor- 
nia, minus  her  northeast  county  of  Modoc. 
That  is,  it  contains  155,962  square  miles.  The 
country  is  something  the  shape  and  exactly  the 
size  of  Michigan,  Indiana,  and  Kentucky  com- 
bined, but  contains  six  times  the  population  of 
this  triad  of  American  States. 

It  is  a trifle  less  than  nineteen  times  the  size 
of  Massachusetts,  with  a little  more  than  nine- 
teen times  her  population.  Its  range  of  latitude 
is  that  from  southern  Florida  to  northern  New- 
foundland. Its  range  of  longitude  equals  that 
from  Boston  to  Denver.  Within  its  boundaries 
are  six  cities,  each  containing  over  100,000 
people,  while  its  whole  population  exceeds 
43.000,000. 

Climate  and  Products.  — The  islands  are 
of  volcanic  origin  and  very  mountainous.  Sev- 
eral of  the  active  volcanoes  are  easily  climbed, 
and  together  with  the  peerless  Fuji,  which  in  art 
as  in  nature  is  justly  the  pride  of  the  land,  are 
frequent  resorts  of  pilgrims,  it  being  considered 
an  act  of  special  virtue  to  worship  the  rising  sun 
from  the  pinnacle  of  some  high  mountain.  In 
former  times  women  were  not  allowed  on  the 


3 


upper  slopes  of  sacred  Fuji.  Eruptions  are  not 
infrequent,  that  of  Bandai-zan  in  1888  resulting 
in  the  loss  of  461  lives,  while  earthquakes  are  so 
common,  especially  in  the  eastern-central  section 
of  the  country,  as  to  pass  unnoticed  unless  excep- 
tionally severe.  The  most  destructive  earth- 
quake of  recent  years  occurred  on  the  morning 
of  October  28,  1891.  Nearly  8,000  persons  lost 
their  lives,  90,000  houses  were  destroyed,  and 
so  much  damage  wrought  that  aside  from  a vast 
amount  of  private  charity,  the  government  spent 
nearly  $4,000,000  in  repairing  public  works  and 
restoring  industries  in  the  afflicted  region. 
Floods,  typhoons,  and  infectious  diseases  also 
ravage  portions  of  the  land  nearly  every  year. 
The  warm  current  on  the  east  coast  makes  the 
summer  a wet  season  and  adds  greatly  to  the 
picturesque  beauty  and  sticky  discomfort  of  that 
trying  season. 

Rice  culture  is  the  chief  industry  of  the  land, 
200,000,000  bushels  being  raised  yearly.  There 
is  a perfect  system  of  terracing  and  irrigation, 
dating  back  for  its  beginning  to  the  time  of 
Christ.  Of  wheat,  17,000,000  bushels  are  raised 
and  of  tea,  7 0,000,000  pounds.  Millet,  sorghum, 
beans,  buckwheat,  potatoes,  rapeseed,  cotton, 
flax,  indigo,  and  tobacco  are  abundantly  grown. 
Usually  two  crops  are  harvested  each  year. 
Two  hundred  varieties  of  fish,  nearly  all  from 
salt  water,  supply  the  low  stands  which  still 
serve  the  Japanese  as  tables.  Ducks,  pheasants, 
apes,  badgers,  hares,  and  bears  also  serve 
for  food.  The  consumption  of  beef  is  yearly 


4 


increasing  and  large  quantities  of  this  and  other 
eatables  are  canned  for  preservation.  Until 
recently  milk  was  used  only  as  a medicine,  and 
butter  not  at  all.  Tea,  tobacco,  and  sake  (rice 
wine)  are  consumed  in  large  quantities,  and 
drunkenness  is  very  common,  though  less  boister- 
ous than  in  Western  lands.  One  seventh  of  the 
rice  goes  through  a distillery.  The  commonest 
fruits  are  oranges,  persimmons,  biwa,  pears, 
grapes,  apricots,  and  peaches.  Small  fruits, 
grafted  fruits,  and  blooded  stock  are  being  intro- 
duced by  the  government  on  its  model  farms, 
and  to  a limited  extent  by  private  enterprise. 

Silk  is  also  a product  of  great  value,  over 
9,000,000  pounds  of  the  raw  article  being  manu- 
factured yearly.  Mining,  one  of  the  oldest 
industries  of  the  country,  has  undergone  great 
improvements  during  recent  years,  and  the 
output  of  all  common  minerals  is  very  large, 
coal  and  copper  taking  the  lead.  Cotton  spin- 
ning flourishes,  a large  number  of  factories  having 
been  opened  within  the  past  five  years.  Among 
her  older  industries  for  which  Japan  has  long 
been  noted,  may  be  mentioned  the  manufacture 
of  porcelain  and  faience,  bronze  utensils  and 
lacquer  ware. 

The  People.  — The  origin  of  the  Japanese 
is  an  unsettled  question.  Scientific  guesswork 
up  to  date  pronounces  them  of  Mongolian 
descent,  derived  from  two  streams  of  immigra- 
tion passing  through  Korea,  spreading  northward 
and  eastward,  and  gradually  subduing  the  Ainu 


5 


(who  are  not  Mongolians)  and  other  aborigines 
of  the  country.  Although  there  are  no  certain 
traces  of  early  Malayan  immigration,  many 
scholars  believe  in  a mixed  origin  that  includes 
this  southern  people.  It  is  an  interesting  fact 
that  recent  Japanese  scholars  have  discovered 
close  resemblances  between  Shintoism,  the  pure 
native  cult,  and  ancient  Judaism,  while  one 
Scotchman  years  ago  published  a little  book  in 
which  he  essayed  to  prove  the  Japanese  were 
derived  from  the  lost  tribes  of  Israel. 

The  people  are  small  of  stature,  the  average 
man  attaining  about  the  same  height  as  the 
average  European  woman.  They  develop  early 
and  are  shortlived,  though  the  number  of  very 
old  people  is  fairly  high.  They  have  less  high- 
strung  nerves  than  Europeans ; hence  they  en- 
dure pain  more  calmly  and  meet  death  with  com- 
parative indifference.  This  last  is  not  entirely  a 
physical  characteristic,  but  is  due  in  part  to  their 
religious  beliefs.  Boys,  young  men,  and  women 
do  the  hard  work,  and  the  dead  line  is  crossed 
at  forty.  Formerly  women  blackened  their 
teeth  and  shaved  off  their  eyebrows  at  marriage. 
They  do  not  bind  their  feet.  Women  are  sub- 
ject to  their  fathers,  husbands,  and  eldest  sons, 
but  have  more  freedom  and  are  better  educated 
than  in  other  Oriental  countries  and  than 
formerly  in  Japan.  The  Japanese  are  intelli- 
gent, polite,  cheerful,  cleanly,  cautious,  curious, 
industrious,  imitative,  kind-hearted,  honorable, 
intensely  patriotic,  and  fairly  persevering.  They 
are  inclined  to  be  fickle,  deceptive,  improvident. 


6 


visionary,  suspicious,  and  somewhat  supersti- 
tious and  sensual.  Impurity  of  life  is  an  open 
and  common  vice.  There  is  one  divorce  to 
every  three  marriages.  Nine  tenths  of  the 
people  are  hopelessly  in  debt.  Children  are 
very  obedient.  Corporal  punishment  is  almost 
unknown. 

Their  old  civilization  is  that  of  the  Chinese, 
but  they  possess  a temperament  that  welcomes 
the  new.  They  are  fond  of  surprises,  but  their 
changes  are  usually  in  the  line  of  progress. 

Government.  — In  theory  the  Emperor  — 
heaven-descended,  absolute,  infallible  — has 
always  been  the  head  and  fountain  of  all  power. 
Practically  this  power  has  been  wielded  usually 
in  his  name  by  the  members  of  some  ambitious 
family,  which  has  managed  to  possess  itself  of 
supreme  influence  over  the  affairs  of  State. 
Even  since  the  revolution  of  1868,  whose  avowed 
object  was  to  restore  the  Emperor  to  his  pristine 
absolutism,  a large  share  of  the  reality  of  power 
has  lain  with  the  two  great  clans  of  Satsuma 
and  Choshu.  On  the  eleventh  day  of  February, 
1889,  amid  the  rejoicings  of  the  nation,  a con- 
stitution was  proclaimed  from  the  throne,  thus 
placing  Japan  in  line  with  the  liberal  governments 
of  the  Western  world.  By  this  constitution 
liberty  of  conscience,  speech,  and  association  is 
guaranteed  to  the  people.  The  present  Emperor 
is  Mutsuhito,  who  was  born  November  3,  1852, 
and  is  according  to  Japanese  reckoning  the  one 
hundred  and  twenty-third  in  an  unbroken  line  of 


7 


rulers  since  Jimmu  Tenno,  a very  mythical  per- 
sonage who  is  supposed  to  have  founded  the 
dynasty  in  660  b.c.  Authentic  history,  however, 
does  not  antedate  the  fifth  century  of  the  Chris- 
tian era.  The  administration  at  present  is 
divided  into  ten  departments,  the  heads  of  nine 
of  which  form  the  Emperor’s  Cabinet.  In  the 
national  elective  system  the  whole  country  is 
divided  into  257  electoral  districts,  represented 
by  300  Deputies  in  the  House  of  Commons. 
Owing  to  a restrictive  property  qualification, 
there  are  less  than  500,000  legal  voters,  or 
12  to  every  1,000  of  the  population. 

Foreign  Relations.  — From  the  thirteenth 
to  the  sixteenth  century  Japan  was  open  to  the 
scanty  commerce  of  those  times.  Then,  through 
distrust  of  the  Roman  Catholics,  the  country 
was  sealed  up.  Commodore  Perry  reopened  it 
in  1854.  The  treaties  now  in  force,  except  those 
with  Portugal,  Mexico,  and  Hawaii,  were  made 
in  1858  and  the  few  following  years.  These 
treaties  are  exceedingly  unjust  to  the  enlightened 
Japan  of  to-day.  The  main  points  in  dispute 
are  the  “favored  nation  clause,”  which  allows 
any  nation  to  claim  privileges  from  Japan 
granted  to  any  other  nation,  extra-territorial 
jurisdiction,  customs  revenues,  and  the  opening 
of  the  country  for  trade  and  residence.  But 
seven  cities  are  now  thus  open.  The  recent 
treaty  made  with  Great  Britain  completely 
breaks  the  tyranny  of  the  past  and  will  result  in 
the  abolition  of  extra-territorial  jurisdiction  after 


five  years,  and  complete  tariff  autonomy  twelve 
years  later.  It  is  confidently  expected  that  other 
nations  will  speedily  revise  their  musty  treaties 
with  this  most  progressive  nation  of  the  Orient. 

There  are  10,000  foreigners  residing  in  Japan, 
one  half  of  them  being  Chinese.  To  all  except 
these  latter  she  now  grants  traveling  passports 
good  for  one  year  throughout  her  whole  domain. 
Desiring  to  extend  her  own  prestige,  assure  the 
independence  of  Korea,  and  break  up  forever 
the  debilitating  influence  of  China  in  the  far 
East,  she  formally  declared  war  against  her  huge 
enemy  in  the  summer  of  1894.  By  an  unbroken 
series  of  brilliant  victories,  the  Chinese  troops 
have  been  driven  out  of  Korea  and  “ On  to 
Peking!”  is  the  watchword  of  Japan’s  valiant 
army  as  this  sketch  goes  to  press.  The  nation 
sanctions  the  war  with  complete  unanimity,  and 
is  ready  to  make  vast  sacrifices  that  China  may 
be  humbled  and  the  whole  Orient  opened  to  the 
most  progressive  influences  of  this  enterprising 
age.  In  her  treatment  of  Chinese  peasants  and 
prisoners  and  her  general  conduct  of  the  war, 
Japanese  officials  purpose  to  meet  the  highest 
demands  of  international  ethics. 

Recent  Changes.  — The  Emperor  has  come 
out  from  his  seclusion,  meets  his  councilors, 
makes  tours  through  the  country,  is  seen  by 
common  people,  even  dines  with  his  merchants 
who,  as  a class,  stood  lowest  in  the  oldtime 
social  scale.  Two  thousand  miles  of  rail- 
way, steamship  lines,  a telegraph  business  that 


9 


amounts  to  $50,000  a day,  a complete  post- 
office  department  embracing  postal-order  and 
parcels  delivery,  and  bank  systems,  lighthouses, 
telephones,  steam-mills  with  complicated  ma- 
chinery, a new  civil  and  criminal  code  based  on 
that  of  France,  a well-equipped  army  and  navy, 
a fine  mint,  official  observance  of  the  Sabbath, 
adoption  of  the  Christian  calendar,  and  com- 
plete religious  freedom  — these  are  the  striking 
features  of  New  Japan.  She  also  has  one  uni- 
versity with  affiliated  colleges,  and  in  all  30,662 
schools,  with  3,500,000  students — two  twenty- 
fifths  of  her  whole  population.  English  is  taught 
in  some  of  the  schools,  and  will  be  in  all  as  soon 
as  teachers  can  be  prepared  for  the  work. 

The  first  newspaper  published  in  Japan  dates 
from  the  closing  years  of  the  Tokugawa  admin- 
istration. In  the  first  year  of  the  Meiji  era 
(1868)  an  official  gazette  appeared,  and  there- 
after newspaper  enterprise  received  a great  im- 
petus. Aside  from  half  a dozen  great  dailies 
that  go  far  toward  molding  as  well  as  reflecting 
public  opinion,  there  are  several  hundred  jour- 
nals and  periodicals  of  all  grades  of  worth 
circulating  through  the  empire. 

Japan  has  sent  hundreds  of  special  missions  to 
Europe  and  America  to  study  the  various  arts 
and  sciences  calculated  to  develop  material  civi- 
lization. Formerly  she  did  little  in  the  line  of 
public  benevolence,  and  private  charity  was  re- 
stricted to  one’s  own  family  or  clan.  But  now 
public  hospitals,  insane  asylums,  homes  for 
foundlings,  etc.,  are  springing  up  in  many 


IO 


places.  Charity  bazaars,  concerts,  and  theatri- 
cals are  quite  the  fashion.  The  Red  Cross 
Society,  with  a prince  of  royal  descent  as  its 
president,  is  very  flourishing,  being  especially 
active  in  connection  with  the  present  war. 
Twenty-three  thousand  dollars  has  come  into  its 
treasury  during  the  past  five  months.  The 
Emperor  and  Empress  are  always  prompt  and 
generous  in  extending  aid  to  sufferers  from  great 
natural  calamities,  and  their  example  is  followed 
by  multitudes  of  others. 

Japan’s  foreign  commerce  amounts  annually 
to  $130,000,000,  against  less  than  one  quarter 
of  one  million  in  1850. 

During  the  past  ten  years  20,000  laborers 
have  emigrated  to  Hawaii  under  a contract  to 
work  on  sugar  plantations.  They  send  home 
their  surplus  earnings.  On  October  17,  1894, 
498  emigrants  sailed  from  Kobe  to  establish  a 
Japanese  colony  on  the  French  West  Indian 
island  of  Guadaloupe,  and  other  colonies  have 
been  established  in  Mexico,  the  Philippine 
Islands,  and  elsewhere. 

Native  Religions.  — Shinto,  which  means 
literally  “the  way  of  the  gods,”  is  the  name 
given  to  the  mythology  and  vague  ancestor  and 
nature  worship  which  preceded  the  introduction 
of  Buddhism  into  Japan,  and  which  survives  to 
the  present  day  in  a somewhat  modified  form. 
It  is  hardly  entitled  to  the  name  of  a religion, 
as  it  has  no  set  of  dogmas,  no  sacred  book,  and 
no  moral  code.  It  has,  however  8,000,000  gods, 


with  the  sun-goddess  at  their  head,  56,500 
shrines  or  temples,  some  of  which  are  main- 
tained out  of  public  moneys,  and  the  attendance 
of  certain  officials  is  required  from  time  to  time 
at  ceremonies  of  a half-religious,  half-courtly 
nature.  Follow  your  natural  impulses,  and  rev- 
erence the  Emperor  seem  to  be  its  leading  prin- 
ciples. Some  of  its  sects  profess  to  heal  the 
sick  by  the  agency  of  prayer,  and  thus  retain  a 
firm  hold  on  large  classes  of  the  people. 

Buddhism  was  introduced  from  Korea,  a.d. 
552.  There  are  at  present  ten  different  sects, 
with  many  subdivisions,  72,000  temples,  90,000 
monks  and  nuns,  and  a vast  number  of  believers 
whose  zeal  needs  only  an  occasion  to  be  vividly 
shown. 

With  great  differences,  which  in  some  matters 
are  contradictions,  Japanese  Buddhism  in  its 
trend  is  atheistic,  idolatrous,  teaches  the  trans- 
migration of  souls,  the  subjection  of  woman  (her 
only  hope  of  heaven  being  to  be  reborn  as  a 
man),  salvation  by  personal  culture  or  through 
the  merits  of  Amida,  and  Nirvana,  or  a state  of 
passive  rest  as  the  goal  of  existence.  Buddhist 
priests  have  no  living  faith  in  what  they  teach  ; 
their  morals  are  very  low,  and  the  religion  has 
almost  no  appreciable  moral  power  over  the 
people. 

Confucian  morals,  whose  cornerstone  is  sub- 
mission to  parents  and  political  rulers,  are 
taught  in  the  schools,  and  the  system  is  theoret- 
ically believed  by  many  intelligent  Japanese. 
For  250  years,  beginning  with  the  early  part  of 


12 


the  seventeenth  century,  the  whole  intellect  ol 
the  country  was  molded  by  Confucian  ideas, 
and  notwithstanding  the  social  cataclysm  of  the 
last  thirty  years,  which  has  overwhelmed  all 
Japanese  institutions,  it  still  retains  a strong 
hold  on  the  thinking  men  of  Japan,  the  reason 
being  that  it  has  to  do  solely  with  ceremonies 
and  duties  (rites  and  rights)  of  the  present  life, 
and  not  with  speculations  concerning  the  future. 

Tenrikyo. — The  word  means  “Heavenly 
Wisdom  Sect.”  It  is  a new  faith,  no  notice  of 
which  has  as  yet  found  its  way  into  encyclopae- 
dias or  histories.  Originally  promulgated  ioo 
years  ago  by  a woman,  as  a sect  of  Shinto,  it  has 
during  the  past  ten  years  become  thoroughly 
eclectic,  and  achieved  a marvelous  popularity, 
now  numbering  at  least  1,000,000  followers, 
entirely  among  the  common  people.  Its  moral- 
ity is  of  a very  high  order,  and  many  of  its 
sermons  are  simply  developments  of  Christ’s 
Sermon  on  the  Mount.  It  professes  to  heal  by 
the  power  of  prayer,  and  worships  the  Ruler  of 
the  Universe.  Buddhists  oppose  it  as  strongly  as 
they  do  Christianity,  and  its  further  development 
will  be  watched  with  great  interest,  for  a few  are 
wondering  if  it  is  not  to  prove  a stepping-stone 
to  the  fuller,  richer  truth  of  Christ’s  gospel. 

Roman  Catholicism  in  Japan. — The 
Jesuits  entered  Japan  in  1549.  The  preceding 
year  a Japanese  fugitive  named  Anjiro  met  Saint 
Francis  Xavier  in  India,  and  together  with  his 


13 


two  servants  was  baptized  later  at  Goa.  Then 
Xavier  formed  the  design  of  evangelizing  Japan. 
He  arrived  at  Kagoshima,  August  15,  1549, 
where  he  was  received  with  distinguished 
courtesy  by  the  prince  and  forthwith  began  to 
preach  the  gospel.  After  a time  some  of  the 
daimios  became  Catholics  and  compelled  their 
subjects,  to  the  number  of  more  than  half  a 
million,  to  embrace  the  new  faith.  In  1587  the 
Tycoon  Hideyoshi,  fearing  lest  Japan  should 
become  the  slave  of  Spain  and  Portugal,  ordered 
the  banishment  of  the  missionaries.  Many 
bloody  battles  followed.  In  1637  the  Christians 
finally  surrendered.  Thirty-seven  thousand  of 
them  were  massacred.  Secret  believers,  how- 
ever, have  existed  ever  since.  In  1864  hundreds 
of  such  were  found  in  the  villages  around 
Nagasaki.  There  are  now  47,000  adherents  to 
the  Church  of  Rome,  together  with  185  European 
and  360  native  priests,  nuns,  and  catechists. 

The  Orthodox  Russian  Church  opened  a 
mission  in  Japan  in  1870.  It  has  been  exceed- 
ingly fortunate  in  possessing  as  its  head  and 
inspiring  genius,  Bishop  Nicolai,  a man  of  rare 
gifts  and  most  charming  personality.  The 
Russian  Cathedral  in  Tokyd  is  by  far  the  finest 
ecclesiastical  edifice  in  the  country,  and  the 
chanting  of  the  service  on  Saturday  evening  is 
one  of  the  choice  attractions  of  the  capital, 
aside  from  its  liturgical  and  religious  import. 
Throughout  the  whole  country  this  mission  con- 
tains two  foreign  and  190  native  preachers  and 
some  22,000  enrolled  members. 


14 


Protestant  Missions.  — These  cover  a 
period  of  nearly  thirty-six  years.  Rev.  J.  Lig- 
gins  and  Rev.  C.  M.  Williams  (late  bishop  of 
Japan),  members  of  the  China  Mission  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  the  United 
States,  were  transferred  to  Japan  in  1859,  Mr. 
Liggins  reaching  Nagasaki  on  May  2.  In  the 
fall  of  the  same  year  representatives  of  the 
Presbyterian  and  Reformed  churches  in  America 
reached  the  country.  To-day  there  are  about 
600  missionaries,  including  wives  and  self- 
supporting  workers,  representing  some  thirty- 
eight  different  societies.  So  great  was  the  dis- 
tiust  of  foreigners,  and  especially  of  Christian- 
ity, that  at  the  end  of  five  years  there  was  but 
C7ie  baptized  Japanese,  and  at  the  end  of  twelve 
years  but  ten.  The  first  church  was  organized 
in  Yokohama,  March  10,  1872,  and  consisted  of 
eleven  members.  There  are  now  at  least  40,000 
baptized  Protestant  Christians,  gathered  into 
400  churches.  We  find  independent  churches, 
Home  Missionary  Societies,  Young  Men’s  Chris- 
tian Associations,  Chautauqua  Circles,  Young 
People’s  Societies  of  Christian  Endeavor,  and 
all  forms  of  church  machinery.  Of  high-grade 
Christian  schools  there  are  20  for  boys,  with 
1,600  students,  and  50  for  girls,  with  2,600 
pupils.  Also  at  least  100  night,  industrial,  or 
other  special  schools  or  classes  with  over  5,000 
students.  There  are  12  orphan  asylums  under 
Protestant  and  17  under  Roman  Catholic  influ- 
ences. Mr.  Ishii’s  orphan  asylum  at  Okayama, 
which  is  largely  in  imitation  of  George  Muller’s 


institution  at  Bristol,  England,  is  the  largest, 
most  widely  known  and  effectively  conducted  of 
the  whole  number. 

There  are  two  leper  hospitals,  and  two 
asylums  for  the  aged,  equally  divided  between 
Catholics  and  Protestants,  four  Christian  asylums 
for  the  blind  and  the  deaf,  a special  mission  for 
Railway  employees,  another  for  policemen,  yet 
another  for  the  Loochoo  Islanders,  and  also  one 
among  the  Ainu,  the  mild-mannered  aborigines 
of  northern  Japan;  also,  work  for  convicts  in 
four  great  prisons  of  Hokkaido. 

Among  those  high  in  position  who  are  Prot- 
estant Christians  may  be  mentioned  the  Chief 
Justice  of  the  realm,  the  Vice-President  of  the 
House  of  Commons,  at  least  a dozen  other 
members  of  the  two  houses,  and  two  secretaries 
of  Cabinet  ministers. 

American  Board  Mission.  — The  main  mis- 
sion was  commenced  in  1869  in  Central  Japan, 
Rev.  D.  C.  Greene  and  wife  arriving  at  Yoko- 
hama November  30  of  that  year.  It  has  now 
eight  principal  stations,  Kobe,  Osaka,  Kyoto, 
Okayama,  and  Tottori  on  the  main  island  (Tsu 
has  recently  been  abandoned  as  a resident  sta- 
tion), Matsuyama  on  the  island  of  Shikoku,  and 
Kumamoto  and  Miyazaki  on  the  large  southern 
island  of  Kiushiu. 

The  North  Japan  Mission  was  begun  in  1883 
at  Niigata  on  the  northwest  coast,  near  the 
thirty-eighth  parallel  of  latitude.  This  is  a city 
of  50,000  inhabitants,  and  the  only  open  port 


on  the  whole  west  coast.  The  whole  region 
is  some  ten  years  behind  the  eastern  coast. 
Buddhism,  bigotry,  and  licentiousness  abound. 
Christianity  makes  slow  progress.  But  the 
people  possess  a native  force  of  character  that 
promises  large  and  permanent  results  in  the  near 
future.  The  city  of  Sendai  is  still  farther  to  the 
north  but  near  the  eastern  coast.  Maebashi  in 
the  interior,  midway  between  the  other  two,  lies 
in  the  centre  of  a great  silk-producing  region. 
Tokyo,  the  capital,  is  the  only  other  city  occu- 
pied by  missionaries,  though  a station  is  planned 
for  at  Sapporo  in  the  great  northern  island  of 
Hokkaido. 

These  two  missions  in  Japan  are  no\  / united 
and  their  work  and  statistics  are  combined  in  this 
sketch.  During  the  twenty-five  years  since  1869 
the  joint  mission  has  enrolled  among  its  foreign 
workers  41  married  and  6 single  men,  44  wives  and 
47  single  women,  a grand  total  of  138  laborers. 
The  sainted  Dr.  Neesima  was  also  for  fifteen  years 
a corresponding  member  of  the  mission.  The 
present  number  is  27  men  and  57  women. 

In  1871,  Y.  Ichikawa,  a teacher  of  one  of  the 
missionaries,  was  arrested  with  his  wife  at  dead 
of  night  and  thrown  into  prison  on  suspicion  of 
being  a Christian.  He  died  in  prison  in  Novem- 
ber, 1872.  The  wife  was  soon  after  released. 

Joseph  Neesima  and  Paul  Sawayama,  after 
completing  their  education  in  America,  returned 
to  Japan  about  1874;  one  to  establish  a Chris- 
tian school,  the  other  to  become  an  eminently 
successful  pastor. 


17 


The  Kyoto  Training  School,  now  called 
Doshisha,  was  opened  in  1876.  More  than 
thirty  of  its  students  came  from  Captain  Janes’s 
school  in  Kumamoto,  where,  through  the  influ- 
ence of  their  foreign  teacher  and  his  most 
estimable  wife,  they  had  become  Christians. 
Forty  students  in  the  Kumamoto  School  pledged 
their  lives  to  Christ  and  Japan;  fifteen  of  them 
formed  the  first  graduating  class  (1879)  at  the 
KSyto  School.  Many  of  the  number  are  to-day 
leaders  in  Christian  work.  The  present  number 
of  students  in  Doshisha  is  446 ; in  the  six  girls’ 
schools,  450,  and  in  the  Bible-women’s  School 
at  Kobe,  30. 

The  first  church  connected  with  the  mission 
was  organized  in  Kobe,  April  19,  1874,  with 
eleven  members.  There  are  now  some  eighty 
such  churches,  with  a membership  of  over 
12,000.  Forty-three  of  these  churches  are  self- 
supporting  and  contribute  to  the  native  Home 
Missionary  Society. 

Of  Japanese  workers  there  are  to-day  30 
pastors  (44  ordained  men  in  all),  55  acting 
pastors,  60  evangelists  and  Bible-women,  and  at 
least  1 00  school  or  language  teachers . The  Chris- 
tians contribute  over  $25,000  a year  for  vari- 
ous church  and  charity  objects.  Their  church 
building  property  is  valued  at  some  $70,000.  To- 
gether with  the  mission  they  also  sustain  two  hos- 
pitals, two  dispensaries,  two  kindergartens,  one 
nurses’ training  school,  several  orphanages,  and  a 
large  number  of  night  schools  and  other  philan- 
thropic enterprises,  in  addition  to  Doshisha 


and  other  schools  referred  to  above.  Of  these 
special  mention  should  be  made  of  Kobe  College, 
a well-equipped  high-grade  institution  for  girls, 
generously  aided  by  the  Woman’s  Board  of  the 
Interior. 

The  work  has  become  so  complex,  and  the  Jap- 
anese people,  though  homogeneous  as  a nation, 
are  in  such  different  stages  of  advancement  that 
it  is  difficult  briefly  to  sum  up  the  situation. 
There  remains  room  for  but  the  following  obser- 
vations : — 

In  addition  to  the  high-grade  work  of  several 
mission  schools  in  Japan,  one  can  count  up  off- 
hand the  names  of  twenty-five  men  and  women, 
all  living  but  two,  who  have  received  more  or  less 
of  an  education  abroad.  With  very  few  excep- 
tions, these  are  or  have  been  prominent  preach- 
ers or  teachers  among  the  Kumi-ai  churches  and 
schools  associated  therewith.  Other  denomina- 
tions furnish  a similar  report.  This  force  of 
highly  educated,  broad-minded  leaders  is  being 
constantly  enlarged,  and  reduces,  not  propor- 
tionally but  to  a marked  degree,  the  need  for 
foreign  workers.  Moreover  the  rising  self-con- 
sciousness of  the  nation,  together  with  its  noble, 
albeit  visionary,  idea  of  national  destiny  as  the 
revolutionizer  of  the  Orient,  seems  to  demand 
that  the  leadership  and  main  responsibility  for 
Christian  as  for  all  other  kinds  of  service  shall 
be  transferred  more  and  more  to  Japanese  hands, 
heads,  and  hearts. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  mass  of  the  Japanese 
people  are  as  yet  hardly  touched  by  the  gospel, 


19 


except  indirectly.  Moreover,  the  highly  intellec- 
tual habits  of  many  Christian  workers,  together 
with  that  striking  national  ambition  so  broad  as 
to  embrace  not  merely  the  Orient,  but  a civilized 
Occident,  leads  to  impatience  of  details  and  that 
humble,  methodical  service  by  which  according 
to  Scripture  the  coming  of  the  Kingdom  is  most 
surely  hastened.  Missionaries  from  countries 
where  Christianity  has  had  a longer  reign  and 
fuller  development  are  likewise  needed  to  give 
steady  balance  and  long-sustained  movement  to 
impetuous  ardor. 

These  considerations,  together  with  the  evi- 
dent destiny  of  Japan  as  the  leader  and  teacher 
of  the  far  East,  make  the  generous  treatment  of 
her  at  this  critical  stage  in  the  Orient’s  awakening 
the  urgent  duty  and  royal  privilege  of  Christian 
churches  and  their  nations. 

No  new  missions  should  be  established  here. 
If  possible,  the  younger  and  smaller  ones  should 
unite  with  those  longer  on  the  ground,  while 
these  in  turn  should,  and  in  the  main  do,  regard 
all  the  requirements  of  Christian  comity. 

It  is  always  unsafe  to  forecast  events  in  such 
a volcanic  land,  but  probably  the  Japan  Mission 
will  never  again  ask  for  a large  increase  of  its 
foreign  force.  A few  more  picked  men  and 
choice  women  for  special  places  will  be  called 
for,  but  the  whole  number  is  more  likely  to 
decrease  than  increase. 

Humanly  speaking  the  Christian  churches  in 
Japan  cannot  possibly  do,  promptly  and  effec- 
tively, the  work  laid  upon  them  in  the  Providence 


20 


of  God.  They  should  be  sustained  most  loyally 
by  the  prayers  and  gifts  of  all  who  believe  in  a 
God  of  nations,  a God  of  peace  and  righteous- 
ness, a God  of  truth  and  love. 

Japan’s  soldiers  have  already  opened  a way 
for  her  merchants  and  missionaries  into  Korea, 
and  they  will  soon  clear  a highway  through  north- 
ern China.  By  her  long  training  in  an  unnatural 
seclusion,  by  her  restless  temperament,  by  her 
boundless  ambition,  by  her  wide-eyed  search 
through  all  the  world  for  the  best  in  material 
splendor,  intellectual  certitude,  and  spiritual 
attainment,  by  her  present  successes  on  land  and 
sea,  her  aspirations  for  the  Orient  and  evident 
divine  calling  therein,  Japan  is  destined  to  be 
the  missionary  nation  of  the  far  East.  Work  for 
her  to-day  will  be  work  for  another  and  larger 
land  to-morrow.  She  is  “the  soul  of  the  far 
East,”  though  the  man  who  coined  that  expres- 
sion has  written  a book  on  purpose  to  prove  that 
she  had  no  soul. 

Let  salvation,  with  all  its  full-orbed  meaning, 
once  come  to  this  soul  of  the  Orient,  the  Sun- 
rise Land  of  the  East,  and  the  dense  clouds  of 
darkness  will  roll  away  forever  from  the  troubled 
face  of  Asia. 


